Nuh ibn Nasr, or Nuh I (died 954), was the

Amir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

of the

Samanids People Samanid Samanid Samanid The Samanid Empire ( fa, سامانیان, Sāmāniyān) also known as the Samanian Empire, Samanid dynasty, Samanid amirate, or simply as the Samanids) was a Persianate Sunni Muslim empire, of Iranian dehqan orig ...

in 943–954. He was the son of Nasr II. It is rumoured that he married a Chinese princess.Richard N. Frye, ''Bukhara, the Medieval Achievement'', (University of Oklahoma Press, 1965), 57.

Rise to power

Nuh came to power after preventing a revolt against his father in 943. Several army officers, unhappy over Nasr's support of Ismaili missionaries, planned to assassinate him. Nuh, given notice of the plot, arrived at a banquet held to organize the assassination, and seized and killed the leader of the plotters. To placate the others, he promised to put an end to the activities of the Ismailis, and convinced his father to abdicate in his favor.

Reign

Shortly after Nuh's ascension, he was forced to put down a revolt in

Khwarazm Khwarazm (; Old Persian: ''Hwârazmiya''; fa, خوارزم, ''Xwârazm'' or ''Xârazm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the ea ...

. Another revolt, launched by

Abu 'Ali Chaghani Abu Ali Ahmad Chaghani ( fa, ابوعلی احمد چغانی; died 955) was the Muhtajid ruler of Chaghaniyan (939–955) and governor of Samanid Khurasan (939–945, 952–953). He was the son of Abu Bakr Muhammad. In 939, Muhammad became ill ...

, proved to be much more serious, and was supported by several Samanid officers such as Abu Mansur Muhammad, who served as the governor of Tus. Abu 'Ali, in addition to being the ruler of the Samanid vassal state of

Chaghaniyan Chaghaniyan (Middle Persian: ''Chagīnīgān''; fa, چغانیان ''Chaghāniyān''), known as al-Saghaniyan in Arabic sources, was a medieval region and principality located on the right bank of the Oxus River, to the south of Samarkand. Histo ...

, had been the governor of Khurasan since 939. In 945 he was removed from the latter post by Nuh, who desired to replace him with a Turk named

Ibrahim ibn Simjur Ibrahim ibn Simjur (died 948) was a Samanid military officer from the Simjurid family. Biography Ibrahim was the son of Simjur al-Dawati, the founder of the Simjurid family. Ibrahim is first mentioned as a deputy of the Muhtajid ruler Abu 'Ali ...

. Abu 'Ali joined forces with Nuh's uncle

Ibrahim ibn Ahmad Ibrahim ibn Ahmad (died 10th-century), was the amir of the Samanids briefly in 947. He was the son of Ahmad Samani. Ibrahim had a brother named Nasr II, who succeeded Ahmad as the ruler of the Samanids in 914. In 943, Nasr's son Nuh I succeeded h ...

and rebelled. In 947 Ibrahim gained control of Bukhara and crowned himself as ruler of the Samanid Empire, forcing Nuh to flee to Samarkand. Ibrahim, however, proved to be unpopular in the city, enabling Nuh to capture and blind his uncle as well as two of his brothers. Abu 'Ali's capital in Chaghaniyan was sacked, but in 948 peace was made between the two, and Abu 'Ali was confirmed as ruler of Chaghaniyan. Following the death of the governor of Khurasan,

Mansur ibn Qara-Tegin Mansur ibn Qara-Tegin, commonly known after his father as Ibn Qaratakin (died 952) was a Turkic military officer of the Samanids in the mid-10th century. Biography Mansur is first mentioned in 945, when the rebel Abu 'Ali Chaghani forced Mansur ...

, in 952, Abu 'Ali regained that post as well. Nuh removed Abu 'Ali from the governorship of Khurasan a second time after receiving a complaint from Vushmgir, the

Ziyarid The Ziyarid dynasty ( fa, زیاریان) was an Iranian dynasty of Gilaki origin that ruled Tabaristan from 931 to 1090 during the Iranian Intermezzo period. The empire rose to prominence during the leadership of Mardavij. After his death, his ...

ruler of

Tabaristan Tabaristan or Tabarestan ( fa, طبرستان, Ṭabarestān, or mzn, تبرستون, Tabarestun, ultimately from Middle Persian: , ''Tapur(i)stān''), was the name applied to a mountainous region located on the Caspian coast of northern Iran. ...

. Nuh had previously supported Vushmgir; the latter had gained possession of Gurgan for a short time with Samanid support, and after losing it to the

Buyids The Buyid dynasty ( fa, آل بویه, Āl-e Būya), also spelled Buwayhid ( ar, البويهية, Al-Buwayhiyyah), was a Shia Iranian dynasty of Daylamite origin, which mainly ruled over Iraq and central and southern Iran from 934 to 1062. Coup ...

, he used a Samanid army to take back Gurgan and Tabaristan in 947. The Ziyarids, along with the Samanids, and the Buyids subsequently fought over the region for the next few years, each side gaining temporary control of the area several times. Vushmgir, who was an ally of the Samanids, had been pleased when Abu 'Ali had gone to war against the Buyids, but was angered when Abu 'Ali made peace with the Buyids of Ray. His complaint, which consisted of accusations that Abu 'Ali was conspiring with the Buyids, resulted in Nuh's decision to remove him. Abu 'Ali then fled to the

, and received a grant from the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

Caliph A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

Al-Muti Abū ʾl-Qāsim al-Faḍl ibn al-Muqtadir ( ar, أبو القاسم الفضل بن المقتدر; 913/14 – September/October 974), better known by his regnal name of al-Mutīʿ li-ʾllāh ( ar, المطيع لله, , Obedient to God), was the ...

for control of Khurasan. Nuh's death in 954 prevented him from solving this problem. He was succeeded by his son 'Abd al-Malik I.

Notes

References

* * 954 deaths Samanids 10th-century monarchs in the Middle East Year of birth unknown 10th-century Iranian people Slave owners {{Samanid Rulers